


Baby Business

by zenonaa



Series: TogaFuka Week 2020 [3]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: F/M, Implied Naegi/Kirigiri - Freeform, TogaFuka child, togafukaweek2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:28:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25732864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenonaa/pseuds/zenonaa
Summary: 'His stomach felt rock hard as he spun around, thrusting his hand into his trouser pocket. Ready to be faced with a robber, or an axe-wielding murderer, or even worse, a small anthropomorphic bear.Only, the culprit was just his son, not dressed like a burglar but dressed in a pink bear onesie. Though a burglar could wear that, Byakuya supposed, he recognised his son’s stature and face immediately. Not just that, but those pale blue eyes and violet hair.His heartbeat slowed to normal.'Togami looks after his son by himself for a weekend while Fukawa attends an author event.
Relationships: Fukawa Touko/Togami Byakuya
Series: TogaFuka Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863115
Comments: 16
Kudos: 42





	Baby Business

Byakuya had a long list of achievements under his belt.

He survived an elimination to become the sole heir of the Togami Conglomerate, where one hundred and eight offspring were whittled down to one.

He survived being locked in a school where for a chance to escape, those caged within its walls were forced to kill one another and get away with it.

He survived travelling through the last heartbeats of the world until a mysterious group called Future Foundation rescued them.

He survived being taken captive by a group of adult-hating children.

He survived a building collapsing on him.

He survived the ice around the world melting, letting the new world take its first breath.

He survived having his world view reshape. 

Survived falling in love. 

He even survived having his hand almost crushed when his wife gave birth.

Therefore, he and their son could definitely survive a weekend without Touko around.

Make no mistake. While Byakuya could count the number of times he met his father on one hand, Byakuya immersed himself in raising his son with his wife despite his hectic work schedule at the new Hope’s Peak, and he made sure he was capable of doing so. More than capable.

Even if certain cooking skills took him longer to master than some other people.

“Don’t worry,” said Byakuya, holding little Aloysius in one arm. “We’ll be fine.”

Aloysius, settled comfortably against Byakuya, regarded his father with a grin, flaunting his twenty white baby teeth. Opposite them, Touko wrung her hands in the doorway of their apartment. A suitcase stood upright next to Touko. All three were dressed fairly casually, with Touko wearing a large grey cardigan over a t-shirt, coupled with black leggings for a modest look that was also comfortable enough for her plane journey. Byakuya’s outfit consisted of a shirt and black trousers, no tie. Their son offered slightly more colour, his green t-shirt accented with blue.

Touko shifted her weight between her feet and went, “B-But...”

“I can easily cope with taking care of our son for two days without you,” Byakuya assured her. He jogged his arm a little, bouncing their son, and Aloysius giggled.

She didn’t smile. The couple had been physically separated before, though admittedly the longer periods occurred prior to them becoming a couple, but even so, they had told each other multiple times that no matter the time and distance apart, they wouldn’t feel a thing. Their feelings would not change.

And yet, Touko didn’t smile.

“It’s not that, Byakuya,” she said. “I know you’re more than competent... y-you’ve fed him, bathed him, read to him and put him to bed as many times as I have. It’s that...”

For a second time, she trailed off, fidgeting with her cardigan’s sleeves. Byakuya knew what she was getting at. He placed his free hand on her shoulder.

“The school’s defences are impenetrable,” Byakuya assured her. “Me... Hagakure... Alter Ego... Souda... We all worked together to ensure that. No one can break in, and even if they got past our defences and our guards and all of our many security measures... they would still be faced with me, and I am unkillable. I won’t let anyone harm us. I swear on the Togami name.”

Touko chewed on her lips, her brow knitted. Byakuya squeezed her shoulder, dipped his head down and pressed his lips against her forehead. That seemed to bolster Touko’s spirits a little. The ends of her lips quivered as she peered up at him.

“You’re strong,” she said softly, lovingly.

His hand slipped from her shoulder up to her cheek. 

“So are you,” he replied in the same tone.

He tilted her head back gently, tucking his thumb under her chin, and pecked her on the lips this time, careful not to squash Aloysius between them. The contact lasted only a few seconds before he resurfaced. She blinked, blushing, looking like he had just breathed life into her. His face warmed.

“Let’s get going,” he said, and she hummed in agreement.

Two hours later, Byakuya had dropped Touko off at the nearest airport and was back at their apartment with Aloysius. After he shut the front door behind them, Byakuya checked the time on his wristwatch. Three post meridiem, so snack time. Holding Aloysius’s hand, he walked with Aloysius into the dining area where he picked Aloysius up and strapped him into his green booster seat.

For today’s afternoon snack, Byakuya served Aloysius a small bowl of dry grain hoop cereal and a third of an apple, with a cup of milk to drink with it. Aloysius began scooping out cereal with his hand and stuffing the pieces into his mouth, not paying attention to his father as Byakuya prepared himself something to eat. Grain hoops pattered against the table, spilling from Aloysius’s hands. Byakuya observed but said nothing for now and sat down next to him.

What Byakuya had to eat was the same as his son, except he used a spoon instead of his hands. And drank coffee instead of milk.

This did not go unnoticed by Aloysius.

“Milk black,” said Aloysius, staring at Byakuya’s cup.

Byakuya pointed down. “This is coffee.”

Aloysius studied the cup with his brow cutely furrowed. When Byakuya picked it up to drink from it, Aloysius’s eyes tracked the movement. Initially, Aloysius sat still, but then he reached his hands toward his father’s cup. 

He couldn’t reach it and began going, “Uh, uh, uh!”

With a smirk, Byakuya positioned the cup by Aloysius’s lips and tipped it carefully. The moment Aloysius tasted some was marked by Aloysius scrunching up his face, flapping his hands and jerking his head back.

A chuckle left Byakuya.

“Not fond of it, hm?” he asked.

Aloysius didn’t need to answer verbally, taking a few seconds to recover and relax his facial features. Then he looked around, and his eyes soon focused on the spoon in Byakuya’s possession. He made another grabbing motion, this time toward it.

“Spoon,” said Aloysius.

Byakuya offered him the spoon. Aloysius grabbed it off his father and became preoccupied with it. Not with using it to eat anything, but with inspecting it with his eyes, hands, and mouth. Meanwhile, Byakuya flitted into the kitchen to obtain another spoon for himself, then sat back down to resume eating.

The spoon clicked against Byakuya’s teeth as he ate. Cereal crunched in his mouth. Aloysius observed, then copied, plunging his spoon into his own bowl. All but two hoops fell off Aloysius’s spoon before it reached his mouth, and afterwards, he just sucked on it. Drool seeped out. Streaked his chin.

“Do you want me to feed you?” asked Byakuya, prompting Aloysius to pop the spoon out of his mouth and flash a toothy grin.

Letting Aloysius keep the spoon, Byakuya used his own to feed Aloysius, who wordlessly but judging by his face, happily consented to being fed. When Aloysius was halfway through his bowl, Aloysius seized Byakuya’s spoon, setting down the other one in his hold. Byakuya let him, expecting his son to feed himself. Aloysius dragged his spoon through the cereal, but instead of veering the spoon toward his own mouth, he extended it toward Byakuya.

“Me feed Papa,” he said. His face lit up when Byakuya leaned closer and opened his mouth. He shoved the spoon in more forcefully than Byakuya would like, but none of Byakuya’s teeth were harmed.

“Thank you,” said Byakuya, and Aloysius looked very pleased with himself. Byakuya retrieved the spoon back, met with no resistance, and began feeding them both again.

After they finished their snacks, Byakuya placed Aloysius in his crib and started on chores. A nap didn’t sound half bad to Byakuya after a night of little sleep, what with him and Touko scrambling to prepare for her trip for much of it, but sleep could wait until later. 

He marched into the kitchen, pushed up his sleeves and wiped down all the surfaces. Their crockery and utensils had already been washed, dried and stored away as soon as they were finished with, so Byakuya gave the tiled flooring a quick sweep and decided that he was done.

Well. Done in the kitchen, at least. The next chore that needed doing was laundry. His butler, Aloysius Pennyworth, had taught him how to do it before he transferred to Hope’s Peak. For cooking, staff at the academy did that for students and Byakuya found that agreeable, but during an email exchange with the school beforehand, the academy informed him that unless he permitted his clothes to be washed with everyone else’s, he would need to learn how to do laundry for himself. 

Not wanting to risk damaging or losing his clothes and never one to back down from a challenge, Byakuya had demanded his butler teach him everything. He could remember standing beside his butler before he was due to enroll at Hope’s Peak, his arms folded over his chest as his butler patiently talked him through every step. Told him what clothes required what settings. How to iron his clothes.

That felt so long ago.

Had been so long ago.

Byakuya restrained a yawn. So much for that coffee. He entered the master bedroom and collected clothes, putting them into the laundry basket. Shirt. Another shirt. Skirt. Socks. Trousers. Stockings. 

More stockings. Russet brown. He held them up by their openings, letting them dangle and sway slightly. Work stockings. Sometimes bedroom stockings. 

One was ripped. A small hole had created a run in the material. He lowered it. Rubbed the stocking between his fingers. Thought about his wife.

By now, she should have been on the plane. Byakuya checked his phone. His last message from her complained about how noisy the people on the plane were, and he fired a message back reminding her she wouldn’t be there for much longer. Then he tucked his phone away into his pocket.

He placed the basket near the top-loading washing machine in the bathroom, and while he was stood facing it, he heard something behind him creak.

The sound seemed to originate from another room. 

Byakuya didn’t turn around. Waited. Several seconds elapsed with nothing happening. Nothing stirring. He was about to dismiss the noise when the door to the bathroom swung open. A chill ran down his spine. His stomach felt rock hard as he spun around, thrusting his hand into his trouser pocket. Ready to be faced with a robber, or an axe-wielding murderer, or even worse, a small anthropomorphic bear.

Only, the culprit was just his son, not dressed like a burglar but dressed in a pink bear onesie. Though a burglar could wear that, Byakuya supposed, he recognised his son’s stature and face immediately. Not just that, but those pale blue eyes and violet hair.

His heartbeat slowed to normal. Obviously, they had been safe this whole time. Just today he had been telling Touko about how secure the grounds were. The sudden noise must have just unsettled him for a second there. Taken him by surprise.

“How did you get out of your crib?” Byakuya mused aloud, talking quietly to prevent a tremor from rattling his voice. He took his hand out of his pocket, leaving the pocket knife in there, and picked up Aloysius. 

Now that he remembered they were safe, and could see they were safe, he felt less tense. Aloysius didn’t answer, showing off his teeth in a crescent moon. Byakuya sighed. In any case, Aloysius was awake. And alert. And certainly not tired.

“Do you want to help Papa with chores?” asked Byakuya. Aloysius nodded. “All right. Let’s wash some of your clothes.”

Byakuya carried Aloysius back to his room. The crib didn’t appear to have been altered since Byakuya last saw it, so the mystery of how Aloysius got out would have to continue for now. He set Aloysius down and began gathering up worn clothes. Once he had collected enough of them, he shared the small pile between himself and Aloysius, and the pair transported the goods to the bathroom. 

Before they did anything else with them, Byakuya sorted the clothes, putting some into the washing machine and giving the last few articles to Aloysius. Byakuya lifted Aloysius up and positioned him over the washing machine. The clothes tumbled out of Aloysius’s arms, reaching their destination below, and then Byakuya put him down. Shut the lid. Turned a dial and pressed buttons.

A whirring sound filled the air as the washing machine began its cycle. Aloysius, now standing on his feet, began bobbing his butt in a little dance to the sound of the machine purring.

As amusing as it was to watch Aloysius, more chores awaited them. Byakuya assumed Aloysius was content here, so he grabbed the vacuum cleaner from a closet. However, he had only been vacuuming the living room for roughly a minute when he heard a clacking sound. He turned around and spotted Aloysius, who had come into the room equipped with a wooden push-toy that clacked whenever the cylinder part of it rolled along the floor. 

It had no vacuuming capabilities, but it resembled a vacuum cleaner, and Aloysius appeared perfectly happy using it to mimic his father. Byakuya paused, watching. Neither of Byakuya’s parents had ever done chores. Those tasks had been handed out to maids and butlers headed by Aloysius Pennyworth, and whenever Byakuya’s mother caught Byakuya’s gaze lingering on the maids for too long, she would scold the maid and remind Byakuya to focus on things such as schoolwork and learning to be a heartless businessman like his father, and his father’s parent, and that parent’s parent, and so on. As was tradition.

Now? His mother had disappeared off the face of the earth and his father had been murdered on live television on Junko Enoshima’s orders. Inevitably, things would change after an event like that, but Byakuya wondered how much change had come from within himself. From his friends. From Touko.

Byakuya finished and switched off the vacuum cleaner. That was them done for now. He rubbed his eyes, trying to spark more life into them, and said to Aloysius, “How about we set up your workstation next to mine?”

The pair went into the master bedroom where among other furniture one would expect a bedroom to contain were two desks. One was swamped with notebooks and folders, colourful tabs poking out between pages, whilst the other desk had a laptop and not a pen out of place.

Actually, ‘two desks’ could have been construed as a lie, as there was in fact a third one. The third one was considerably smaller, made from plastic and part-chair. Byakuya seated Aloysius in the smallest desk, got him some paper and pencils, and then fetched themselves drinks. He returned with two cups and crouched down, offering Aloysius one of them, but Aloysius didn’t take it.

“Aloy coffee,” said Aloysius upon seeing the milk.

Coffee, just like what his papa drank while he worked, even though Aloysius had proven not to like the taste. Without a word, Byakuya took the cup of milk back to the kitchen. Less than a minute later, Byakuya returned and gave Aloysius a different cup. The sight of the dark liquid in it pleased Aloysius, who proceeded to sip it without complaint.

Even if blackcurrant juice wasn’t coffee, they looked similar enough.

Aloysius concentrated on drawing while Byakuya got on with marking students’ work. Fortunately, over the years, the new academy had recruited more staff which lessened the workload for everyone, but for anyone to come close to the talent and skill of Byakuya would be a feat. He knew about business. Mathematics. Knew multiple languages. How to fly a helicopter. In a school that encouraged students to discover and try new things, having teachers with a range of abilities and knowledge was vital. 

At the start, Byakuya, Touko and Kyouko had been responsible for the teaching of many subjects, and Touko had been relieved to be able to become the school librarian when more staff arrived. 

Still, despite there being more teachers available now, Byakuya preferred to keep himself busy, so he marked paper after paper after paper. 

After paper.

After paper.

After paper...

His hand slowed to a stop. His eyes crept shut.

When he awoke, his neck ached from being hunched over. Byakuya sat up with a cramp in his neck. He adjusted his glasses and his blurry vision fixed, sharpened. The side of his head maintained a dull pang from where he had fallen asleep on it. Going through students’ papers must have lulled him to sleep like counting sheep. Spending much of last night helping Touko pack her suitcase and get her work together for her author event hadn’t helped either.

Yet even if offered a do-over, he still would have assisted her.

Remembering Aloysius, he turned to check on him, only for the plastic chair-desk to be unoccupied. A knot formed at the bottom of Byakuya’s gut, but he forced down his nerves, pressing them as flat as they could go. Byakuya had thought there was a burglar when it had only been his son and it could have been no one else. Most likely, Aloysius had just wandered somewhere else.

No, definitely. Aloysius must have.

He checked Aloysius’s bedroom. Not in there. Then the living area. Not in there. Then the bathroom where a light on the washing machine flashed, indicating the wash cycle ended. 

Not in there.

Then, the living room again, not in there, but when Byakuya surveyed the living room this time, he now noticed the front door was ajar.

If the knot in his lower gut had clenched any tighter, it would have ripped him in half. 

No one could have broken in and taken him. Surely not. Security was too tight for that. It had to be. Byakuya staggered out of his apartment, looked around the landing. 

No one. 

His son had to be safe. He bolted down the corridor as fast as he could without running. If he ran, that would be admitting he was afraid, and he had no reason to be afraid because nothing bad could have happened to his son. 

As soon as Byakuya stopped beside a certain door on the same floor, he banged his fist against it. Seconds crawled by until it opened, revealing the puzzled face of Makoto Naegi, lit up by the lighting behind him. The television could be heard mumbling somewhere beyond him.

“Togami-kun?” said Makoto, like he wasn’t sure that was his name.

Byakuya didn’t have time for this. He breathed loudly through gritted teeth. To not grab Makoto by the shoulders and shake him took all of his dwindling restraint. 

“Naegi, I woke up and can’t find Aloysius in my apartment. The front door was open.”

Makoto jolted.

“W-What?” he said, staring.

“You already kept me waiting, and now you want me to repeat myself?” snarled Byakuya, and Makoto winced.

“N-No! I heard you,” said Makoto, showing his palms to Byakuya.

“So you’re just wasting my time?” Byakuya said louder. Makoto cringed more and shrunk back.

“What’s going on?” asked someone behind Makoto, and Kyouko appeared into view, wearing one of Makoto’s t-shirts over her leggings.

Byakuya twitched angrily.

“Do I seriously have to repeat myself again?” hissed Byakuya. She rested a hand onto Makoto’s shoulder, squinting at the other man.

“Togami-kun can’t find Aloysius,” explained Makoto. Kyouko, who had been squinting at Byakuya, cupped her chin.

“It’s highly unlikely someone could have taken him,” she said. “When did you last see him?”

In his haste, Byakuya hadn’t remembered to check the time. He whipped up his sleeve and said, “I fell asleep, but I think an hour ago?”

Kyouko inclined her head forward, infuriatingly calm. “I see. He can’t have gone far then. You two check around the building, and I’ll go on ahead.”

When she said that, Byakuya had been under the impression she would run off right away. Instead, she dawdled gazing at Byakuya.

“He’ll be fine, Togami-kun,” she assured him, and then she hurried away.

Rather than take the elevator, she opted for the stairs, her footsteps muffled by her slippers. Makoto scratched his chin, staring after her.

“I wish I had as much energy as Kyouko,” he remarked, a smile wobbling on his lips.

The nerve of him.

“Don’t just stand there!” Byakuya snapped. “We have to find Aloysius. What if that Towa brat returned and kidnapped him so she could raise him to be the next Enoshima? Or an enemy of my father, wanting to take revenge, or...?”

“Togami-kun, none of those things will have happened!” Makoto interrupted. 

Before Byakuya could respond, he gripped Byakuya’s upper arm, maintaining strong eye contact. His hold lessened quickly and when he next spoke, it was softer. 

“We’ll find him, okay? We’re your friends, and we’ll do whatever it takes,” promised Makoto.

Always the optimist. Somehow, Makoto’s words breathed into Byakuya, cleared his head if just by a tiny amount. Makoto gave a small smile and let go of him.

“Let’s see if the others have seen him,” said Makoto.

The pair knocked on every door, and every time, they received the same answers.

“No.”

“Nope, sorry.”

“I haven’t.”

Each one was accompanied by a similar addition.

“I’ll grab my coat and help you.”

“I’ll consult my crystal ball! Scratch that, I’ll come with you.”

“Aunt Komaru is ready to tear down the city if need be!”

By the time Byakuya emerged onto the ground floor, he had every occupant of the apartment building flanking him on all sides. They spilled out, calling Aloysius’s name and spreading out like a firework exploding. Byakuya didn’t stray far from the entrance, scanning the area. He hadn’t brought a coat, or put on shoes, yet the air couldn’t chill him. His skin burned. His throat burned. His eyes burned.

Everyone’s voices blended into each other. Byakuya got out his phone and when he turned on the screen, he saw a message from Touko.

Two, in fact.

‘I just landed. All is well. I’ll send another message when the taxi arrives.’

‘The taxi is here. I’ll probably nap when I get to the hotel.’

Byakuya unlocked his phone and as he tapped his way to the contact book, he realised he was trembling. His finger kept touching the wrong spot. No, he didn’t want to call Yasuhiro. Or even Touko. Not yet.

He was about to call security to when his phone vibrated with an incoming call.

“Ishimaru?” said Byakuya upon answering, not to his former classmate, but his former classmate’s father, Takaaki Ishimaru.

“Uh... Hello, Togami,” said Takaaki through the phone. “I just dropped off some teens at the stop by the front gates, and your son’s here trying to catch a ride... or something.”

No words came out of Byakuya’s mouth. His lips just quivered.

“Togami?” said Takaaki hesitantly.

“I’ll be right there,” Byakuya blurted. He hung up. Without pause, he broke into a run, his footsteps barking and joining the discordant noises of the night.

When he arrived at the bus stop, the bus was still pulled over in front of it, and Takaaki was outside his vehicle, carrying Aloysius by the armpits with both hands. Byakuya rushed over and took Aloysius into his arms, holding him more comfortably. Takaaki offered no resistance.

“I, uh, tried to get an explanation from him, but he’s not divulging any details,” said Takaaki, rubbing the back of his neck.

“He’s a toddler. Not one of the suspects you used to bring into the station,” replied Byakuya coldly. He frowned at Aloysius, who seemed a tad frustrated but otherwise. “What are you doing here?”

A few seconds passed. 

Then, Aloysius said, “Aloy get Mama.”

Byakuya blinked. He hugged him closer. Gave him a little bounce.

“Aloy miss Mama,” piped up Aloysius.

“Me too... but she’ll be back in a few days, all right?” said Byakuya quietly. “Let’s call off the search party and get you home.”

Even if the love Byakuya carried for Touko never wavered, never dwindled, he looked forward to seeing her smiles again. Hearing her mumble, shriek, laugh. Feeling the curve of her back in bed, her hair between his fingers and her chapped lips against his. The pair walked off, leaving Takaaki to stand by himself.

When they were almost too far away to hear him, Takaaki deadpanned, “You’re welcome.”

By the time Byakuya and Aloysius returned to the apartment building, almost everyone had fanned out, continuing their search throughout the grounds. As he approached, little Aloysius in his arms, he caught the attention of Makoto, whose gaze initially glazed over him before he did a double take.

“You found him?” Makoto gasped, attracting the attention of those around him. Pained faces set aglow, and soon a small crowd had gathered around the new arrivals.

“Yes, yes,” said Byakuya. Aloysius smiled at all the attention he was receiving, seemingly unaware of their context.

“Where was he?” asked Makoto, his eyes flitting between the two Togamis.

“He tried to take a bus,” said Byakuya. He gave Aloysius a gentle bounce.

Makoto chuckled. “What a rascal...”

“We better inform the others,” someone said, and the group began to disperse, some going on their phones, some shouting, some doing both.

Eventually, the only one remaining by Byakuya’s side was Makoto, who was looking softly at Aloysius. Byakuya’s eyes were trained on Makoto.

“Hey. Naegi.”

“Yeah?” went Makoto, looking up.

“... Thanks.”

Makoto blinked, then tilted his head to one side and smiled. 

“That’s what friends are for, right?” he said.

A smile worked its way out from Byakuya’s lips. “Right.”

Thankfully, the rest of the weekend proceeded with no more hiccups than a typical weekend. Yes, Aloysius soaked Byakuya in his bath time by splashing. Yes, Byakuya had to tell Aloysius three bedtime stories before Aloysius finally went to sleep one night. Yes, Aloysius gave one of his old pacifiers to Makoto’s dog and Byakuya chased the dog all through the school grounds until he managed to corner him and coax the pacifier out of the dog’s mouth. 

But you know what?

Byakuya had survived many life-threatening events, and compared to having to solve a murder in a trial every few weeks and not knowing if he would be the victim of the next one - though Byakuya felt assured that he would never have been able to be murdered, the events that transpired over the weekend were mundane, and whenever Byakuya woke up every morning with his wife beside him, whenever he heard his son’s laughter, or met up with his friends, or idly twisted the wedding ring on his finger, he was reminded of how glad he was for that.

At the airport, Byakuya waited with Aloysius by the baggage carousel. The carousel rumbled as it circulated suitcases, and the window panes dominating one wall showcased the black sky outside. Aloysius scrunched up his face and yawned, strapped to Byakuya’s back in a carrier, and he didn’t notice Touko until she began speaking.

Byakuya had noticed though, as soon as she entered baggage claim. He watched her approach with a grin on his face, unable to take his eyes off her. Joy and relief flooded through her features, making it look like she was on the verge of either crying or laughing as she dashed over.

Turned out to be both.

“My darlings,” she cooed. 

Aloysius jerked his head up at the sound of her voice and beamed. She tickled gently under his neck. Her eyes sought Byakuya afterwards. 

“How were you without me?” she asked with a tired smile.

Byakuya pushed up his glasses, turning his head to one side. “We were fine, of course.”

Touko tilted her head to one side and clasped her hands together. “Of course...! I’m glad to hear it. Here, I got you both something... What do you want out of everything in the whole world, Aloysius?”

Without missing a beat, Aloysius said, “Baby.”

She hesitated.

“Baby?” repeated Touko.

“Baby sister,” said Aloysius firmly.

Touko and Byakuya exchanged looks.

“T-That’s still a work in progress, but I got you this for now,” she said, blushing.

She delved her hands into her carry-on bag and pulled out a small cat toy, which she gave to Aloysius. He waved it around like it was dancing.

“Meow meow,” he said happily.

“What about me?” asked Byakuya.

“Oh...” She smirked and prodded the tips of her index fingers together. “Y-You will get your toy later, Darling.”

His eyes widened, but he managed to keep the rest of his face composed, despite the rush of heat that threatened to melt his coolness. “Ah.”

In contrast, Touko made no attempt to censor herself, continuing to smirk and blush. She finally glanced over to the carousel and jumped. Her smile vanished.

“Ah! T-There’s my suitcase! Come back!” she screeched.

Touko’s arms flailed as she ran after her suitcase before it disappeared through the wall. Byakuya shook his head, the ends of his lips curled upward, and followed after her.


End file.
